someone just hit my car

jginnane

Had too much experience with bumper paint repairs on my wife's last Acura TL.

First -- the plastic bumper cover for most cars is about $300-400 unpainted, so a body shop will charge another $300-400 for painting. A little more for metal paints (and other 3-layers, like my pearl white). That plastic bumper cover is about the weight of a $10 Rubbermaid trashcan from Walmart's, but it's shaped slightly differently. ;p

Second -- Most dealers will tell you the name of a body shop they "recommend". All dealers use body shops constantly because of damage, touch-up even on new cars before delivery. The price you get at that body shop is going to be within 10% of the best price you'll find elsewhere. But if you don't like your nearest body shop, ask at the next-closest Nissan dealer. (I have 9 dealers within 30 miles of my home; 30 dealers within 40 miles.)

Third -- the Z is new enough that the factory paint isn't stocked locally yet. (You can't even buy a touchup paint stick from Parts without them ordering it.)

Fourth -- I have heard that this year's factory paint, in most car lines, is not sprayed like the old-fashioned types with high volatile contents. My wife's royal blue Acura TL is a lovely shade of orange peel, all over. And my pearl Z's got a few chips in the hood already. (Am I worried? Naw... it's aluminum, after all. I'll just wait til the dealer starts stocking paint sticks in color code QAB.)

Finally, since it's on the rear, consider getting a piece of plastic to cover the damage and protect you from the next hit. See www.eurobumperguard.com for different types of front and rear bumper protection. (In New York City, this stuff is a necessity.)

shumby

not to get off topic but you should look into Dr. Color Chip online. there chip repair system is great and workes really well. brings the chip back up to the level of the paint. I was not sure at first but said WTH and gave it a try. I will never go back to a paint stick again.

__________________
Originally Posted by SAM@GTM
Engine detonation is not normal and it should never never happen, and whoever told that need to do something else for living .
Sam

nicknick

These people deserve a little pain, for the pain they put us through.

jginnane

It looks like you get quite a lot with their system for forty bucks. However, I'd be concerned that the paint might initially match up, but then not fade or last the same way factory paint does.

Not to sound like a rocket scientist know-it-all, but usually premium paints contain titanium dioxide to give the brightest, best-wearing appeal. Lower grades contain other things. An imitator can get a good color match under specific lighting conditions, like broad daylight, but then when you look at the same spot with night street lighting (for example) the paint that isn't mixed exactly the same would have a "muddy" appearance. (And if it still looks OK with street sodium lights, then check it in the garage under fluorescent lights.)

I said early in this thread that I had too much experience with painting plastic bumpers. Any decent body shop is going to sand and fill all the specks, then paint the WHOLE bumper to make it look good and blend with the paint on the rest of the car. With a tricoat paint, they do it three times: base, metallic, and clear coat.

So an $8 Nissan paint stick isn't the worst way to fill small nicks. You can pay a little more, and get worse ... or pay a whole lot more, then wait for someone else to hit-and-run your bumper again. In NYC, the damage in these pictures wouldn't even get touched up. (That's what happens, and the Z owner should be lucky the bumper cover didn't get completely ripped off or a hole punched through it.)

kannibul

Yeah, though in NYC, you could get away without owning a car


But, you illustrate the reason that I'm looking at the LANGKA system, as it uses touch up paint...they just give yo ua process for working it...

I'll definately try it out on our Honda Civic first, which even has a rust spot where a chip has existed a while...

If it covers that up and makes it look great, then I'll be happy, and might even get brave enough to try it on my Z...